Mathews Family Tradition

Your Online Source of Upcoming Shows, Events and Anything Bluegrass!

About Us

The MFT band: MFT is a quartet of talented musicians from the southern tier of NY State whose concerts and festival shows have won the hearts of bluegrass music lovers wherever they have performed. When you come to a MFT concert, you’ll be treating yourself to some of the best traditional and contemporary bluegrass music that the area has to offer. MFT band members are:

ROY MATHEWS – Banjo. Roy is probably best known as the banjo man and harmony singer with the eclectic bluegrass band, the Diamondback Rattlers, a band that performed for many years all over the northeast US and southern Ontario. Now that the Rattlers have retired, Roy has time to enjoy being in a band with his kids – with their singing abilities and natural musical talents, Roy is just as proud of his sons as a father can be.

CALVIN MATHEWS – Lead vocals, rhythm guitar and m/c for the band. Cal has those exceptional qualities that few singers possess and he is just as comfortable singing the traditional songs of the Flatt & Scruggs era as he is singing the modern songs of today’s popular bluegrass performers and he has that ability to draw the audience in to that special moment, place, time.

JASON MATHEWS – Mandolin, harmony vocals, and sound engineer for the band. Jason started to learn mandolin at the hands of his grandfather, Lee Mathews, some 20 or so years ago by starting with some of the fiddle tunes he heard his granddad play. Jay is a natural on mandolin – matter of fact, he’s unstoppable on that thing – and his harmony vocals blend so well with his brother that it reminds you of those great brother duets in bluegrass and country music of a few years ago.

JIM OSBORNE – Bass, dobro and vocals. Jim may have started out playing country music but several years ago he found his heart in bluegrass and when you hear him play, there's no doubting that. Jim is quite versatile on the dobro and he does a very nice job with an occasional lead vocal and when it comes to playing the bass, he provides that rock solid timing that a band needs to build their sound around – you know, that drive, that can’t-sit-still feeling.

DEAN GOBLE - Fiddle and vocals and an all around peachy sort of guy. Dean has played fiddle with Roy for a long time and as many of you know, he was an original member of the Diamondback Rattlers band as well. Dean plays bluegrass, country, swing, dixieland, and you name it and he has been in a number of bands during his illustrative career (just can't seem to hold a job I guess). We are proud and happy that he has been a member of MFT for 3 years now - and we're loving it.